Monday, September 25, 2006

09/19 - African hugs

Today started with a hot bath from a tub. I am pretty much rough it anywhere now and come out alive. I have the cold shower down, and I don’t even worry about shaving anymore. I was meant for third-world-country living.

The babies are the complete opposite. They love the tub and will spend forever in there if you let them. I think more than anything they love the attention they get in the bath because it is undivided. Little do they know how un-often that water gets changed. I use a lot of soap on them for the benefit of my hands as well.

The children love when I blow bubbles and I don’t think they have seen them before. Most all of them got involved either chasing them, attempting to blow them or shielding the babies from them. The Kenyan volunteers were very concerned they soap would hurt the children. Apparently, they are more dangerous than the rocks they allow the kids to put in their mouths and potentially swallow.

For lunch I ate a crazy sausage – if that was what it really was. The meat fell apart in my mouth and the skin could not be chewed so you had to swallow chunks of it whole. It tasted all right but it was sketchy. The food here is indescribable sometimes.

Who wants hugs? The answer is Kenyan men. This afternoon a man was asking for white people to hug him. He wanted to be Tara’s new squeeze but he was not really her type. At least he got a hug from her - I sped walked away. Alas, young love is so entertaining.

Our volunteer organization made a cameo later in the day to make sure we liked our home stay and orphanage. They were not too brilliant and asked us in front of the administrator so we really couldn’t give any great feedback. I am keeping notes on things that they could fix to make it more cohesive for the volunteers. I love it here but there are some frustrating things that could be altered to make it more enjoyable. Don’t worry; I will blog it when it is finished.

Tonight it rained and so we played in it with the children. You would think they would put on a DVD or get out some books or toys but instead the children threw chairs and pulled each others hair. Speaking of feedback….

The lights came on around eight at night so I was able to enjoy my nightly ritual of a bottled coke and a small dairy milk chocolate bar. The small things in life are so enjoyable here.

Miss you all.

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